THE TEACHING EXPLAINED

THIS BOOK is a Book of Prayer, sanctioned by
the Church of Christ as an assistant to devotion. Thus has the Church
done from the earliest days, and what this book contains has reference
to worship only. Its purpose is to teach men the way to pray truly to
God; to point out all the rites sanctioned by His Church; the way in
which those rites and the sacramental offices are to be observed
and performed; to explain the fasts and holydays ordained by the Church,
and to teach the priests of God their own particular functions and those
things which they have together with the congregation to perform in
the sight of God; to make one voice of prayer and supplication common
to all, and so to establish the method and the words even of adoration
that men need not only then worship in common when they worship in one
congregation. This unison in adoration is no new thing, indeed it is
very old; nor does it conflict in any way with the Word of God, because
therein lie the prototypes of what this Church system is. Let us look
to Moses and Miriam and the daughters of Israel; to Aaron with his sons,
when they blessed the people; to Deborah also and to Barak; and who
will deny the purposed composition of the Psalms of David as so many
prayers and songs of praise to be offered, in reading or from memory,
to Jehovah his God? The thanksgivings and the prayers of the Israelites
down to the time of the Jews in Jerusalem, and even to the advent of
our Saviour Jesus Christ, were designedly composed, not left to the
inspiration of the occasion; the sentiment and the words in which the
sentiment was conveyed were prepared beforehand and selected as being
most seeming to the effort made by man to pay homage to his Maker; and
the ceremonials before the altar, as well as those others outside of
the temple and within,were all performed according to a preordained
rule and understanding. Our Lord Himself was not indifferent to these
things while sojourning here on earth, but rather when He saw that the
Jews neglected to observe some of these ancient rites He was troubled
and "rebuked them." Yet He, the Teacher Divine, from whom
we date as from a new beginning of the world, did not merely follow
the mode of worship as established before His day of humiliation here
on earth; He, on the other hand, Himself ordained a new form of worship
to be used in the place of the old, and which recognized Him. At that
time, when He was finally about to soar higher than the law which He
came to fulfil and to supplant, He taught His disciples saying, "When
ye pray, say, 'Our Father which is in Heaven,' &c. The
prayer which He taught was very similar to the prayer then in use among
the Jews -- a prayer that was rather modified than originated at that
time. At the time, also, when He proclaimed Himself the Head of the
New Church of which He also was the foundation-stone -- while He was
establishing and organizing it, the Church, before His return to Heaven
whence He came, He ordained the Apostles selected to be the guardians
of that Church, and after they had received from Him the power to bind
and to loose; He told them "to agree beforehand" as to what
they should ask. (Matt. xviii. 19.) In many places in the Word of God
we are shown how established a thing it is that the Lord is to be worshipped
in this way, that is to say, by offering our praise in one voice, by
singing hymns in common, by saying prayers already prepared that all
may pray in concert. At midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang Psalms
unto God within the prison, and the prisoners heard them. (Acts xvi.
25.) And how should they have heard had those two not prayed together
and in an audible voice? And how could their prayer have been otherwise
than confused had it not been prepared beforehand and got by heart,
so that their prayers and their praises were as one? This also coincides
with what the Apostle Paul taught the Corinthians in more places than
a few in his Epistles to them. The fourteenth chapter of his first Epistle
to that people is full of his teachings on this particular subject and
of the way in which worship ought to be offered, and how he was astounded
at the multiplicity of their prayers and confusion of their worship:
"How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of
you hath a Psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation,
hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying."
Furthermore at the end of the chapter he gives this particular injunction:
"Let all things be done decently and in order." Not only are
praises and thanksgivings to God to be dutifully prepared beforehand,
but prayers also. SS. John and Peter were let go (Acts iv. 23, 24.)
and "went to their own company, and reported all that the chief
priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they
lifted up their voices to God with one accord, and said, Lord,
Thou are God, which hast made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all
that in them is," and so they proceeded together until their outpouring
of praise and prayer was finished. But how could they have prayed in
such sweet sympathy, and how could discordance of voice and matter have
been prevented, had not the prayer they used been one already familiar
to them? It can hardly be asserted that this concordance was miraculous,
because miracles only came in to illustrate a superior Power when the
limits of the power of man bad been reached; and if the prayer of that
assembly could have been previously arranged and could have been ready,
at any moment, on their lips, why should a miracle have been forthcoming
on that occasion? Their friends were greatly rejoiced when Peter and
his brother Apostle re- turned to them, and "they lifted up their
voice to God with one accord" in prayer. The prayer they had by
heart; they raised their voices in concert because they were accustomed
so to do; and these people here praying together and with the same aspirations,
expressed in the same words, were the first-folded of the Christian
flock. It will be evident perhaps from the instances here given that
we are not without many precedents in this matter; nor is it likely
to be denied that we are often commanded to worship with one mind, to
offer up our praises with one mind, and to pray in concert, that "all
things may be done unto edifying." However, these are not the only
reasons which recommend a form of worship previously arranged; the intrinsic
correctness and propriety of the method in question must also be considered.

We are commanded to join in public worship, and should we meet, each
one of us to choose his own particular prayer, or some to sing Psalms,
some to declare a doctrine, and some to prophesy, we should be very
like those Corinthians satirized by Saint Paul. But again, if we meet
together and leave it to one person to shape a prayer for us, what becomes
of the simultaneous prayer? If we come together to praise God by singing
Psalms to His glory, and the choir only, or the people set apart for
the purpose only sing, what is our part in the service, and for what
do we make a portion of the congregation? We meet to praise our God,
but if the priest alone praises God and prays to Him, what have we to
do there? It is well understood that some people say all these offerings
can be made in silence and without a premeditated form of expression.
But not so did those who first belonged to the Church teach us; nor
does our own intelligence teach us so today. In a body we go to church
to worship and to pray to God. No man's prayer can avail much, while
his attention is bent on following the line taken by the person praying.
His thoughts digest the words which fall from the mouth of the minister,
but his heart does not offer up those same words in supplication to
God; no sooner has he made them his own and is about to discharge his
heart of them understandingly, than, following all the time the voice
of him who prays aloud, some new thought enters his mind; or otherwise
absorbed with what his mind has taken hold of, he misses the thread
of the spoken prayer, and hurrying to find it again, he forgets God
for the moment, and by the time his thoughts have once more settled
upon Him, he hears the "Amen." And suppose some one to have
been able to pray understandingly while following the minister till
the minister's supplication failed to awake an echo in his heart, in
what position does he find himself? Can he from his heart and in good
conscience say "Amen," which means, "May it be so, my
God," knowing at the same time that the prayer just offered did
not recommend itself to his conscience -- did not, it may be said, suit
his views? Alas for this would-be supplicant who could not pray to God,
because he did not know what turn the prayer would take! because his
heart was not as the minister's heart, and his needs were not those
which the man put up to pray expressed; because no use was made of prayers
prepared beforehand by those who knew of old the common wants of man
-- of prayers bequeathed to us by those we rightly call the Fathers
of the Church; and because prayers which satisfy every mind and find
at every repetition a new birth in every heart were unemployed. The
prayers having been prepared of old, the Psalms ordered, the hymns sanctioned,
the rites and offices authoritatively established, then, indeed, we
can worship with all our mind, and all our heart, and all our strength;
none can get up and offer crude supplications for things of no common
interest; but on the contrary, we go to church knowing what the prayers
will be and that they will convey to Heaven all our desires, yet nothing
more. But it must be remembered that what this book contains is not
intended solely for the purposes of public worship. This is a book for
every day and every hour of the day. It is for the solitary one and
for the family group; it asks for blessings in this world as well as
in the world to come; that we may be guarded from all manner of harm,
from all kinds of temptations, from the power of lust, from bodily suffering,
and also that we may find forgiveness of our sins. The Church has not
left us to go by one step from darkness into the awful presence and
brightness of God, but it has prepared for our use prayers to meet the
necessities of every soul, whether they be used in public or in private.

Such is the general character of this Book of Common Prayer now offered
to the people of Hawaii. And lest it should be asked, Whence comes this
book? and whence its authority? it is here declared that it comes of
the Church, of the Church of Jesus Christ our Lord, the First-born of
His Father, the One Head of His One Church. And here, perhaps, it may
be well to state in a few words what that Church is.

The Church is in fact an association or guild, founded and established
on earth by our blessed Lord Himself, and therefore this society is
called the Church of Christ, and all who enter and belong to this goodly
company are called by the high and honourable name of Christians. The
Church was first organized by the Apostles, the Holy Spirit leading
them, and she is the one only repository of God's truth, and through
her only may we look for the fulness of God's love. And because she
is one and alone, the Church of our Lord is called the Catholic Church
(which means one and universal). How different is an unorganized mass
of people from an assembly amenable to regulations; in the one there
is nothing but disorder and confusion, the other does every thing "decently
and in order," under the control of one Head and of subordinate
officers carefully selected and duly instructed. It has its rites and
observances auxiliary to the purpose proposed, badges by which its members
may be known, the privileges attaching to their position understood,
and the duties they have undertaken declared; and it has its preliminary
rules to be observed before the aspirant can be admitted.

Such is Christ's Holy Catholic Church. The Lord Christ is her Head
and He was her founder -- the rules that must be complied with by those
who would enter and be of her, are the reception of Baptism -- that
invariable sign of admittance -- and the partaking of the Holy Sacrament
of the Lord's Supper. What she demands of us, her children, are repentance,
faith, obedience. The blessings in store for us are reconciliation with
God through Christ the Head of the Church. and pardon of our sins, the
love of God in this world and beatitudes everlasting in the world to
come. Her officers are bishops, priests, and deacons. The chain of ordination
has never been broken from the time of the Apostles to this day, which
Apostles were the first when the Church was newly established to exercise
those holy functions which by succession from them devolve upon the
bishops and clergy of our own time.

Her Law Book is the Bible itself; her precedents are found in the writings
of the Fathers, preserved by the Church for the solution of questions
and controversies. Under these laws, and while not neglecting the appointed
offices and observances of the Church administered by a priesthood chosen
of God, we are incorporated and we dwell in peace with our unseen Redeemer,
through whose mysterious body as we receive it believingly we converse
with the Spirit which eye never saw. As the Apostle says in his Epistle
to the Ephesians, chapter iv. verse 4, " There is one body, and
one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;"
and as he says also to the Corinthians in his first Epistle, chapter
x. verse 17, "We being many are one bread and one body." In
the first chapter of his Epistle to the Colossians the same Apostle
tells us concerning this body, that it is the Church. Wherefore, if
we are Christians according to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures we
cannot withhold our belief in the Holy Catholic Church established on
earth by Christ Jesus our Lord.

There are branches of this Church in every land. How the Church has
come down from the times of the Apostles to these days in which we live
is not a matter about which the generality of men are ignorant. It were
useless perhaps to set forth how she has taken root sooner or later
all over the world. She is planted in America, in Asia, in Europe, in
Africa, in the islands which stud the ocean, and now, behold! she is
here with us in these islands of our own.

Let us see how she felt her way and reached us at last. Our ancient
idols had been dethroned, the sexes ate together, and the prohibition
upon certain articles of food was held in derision by the females to
whom it had been a law; the temples were demolished, the kapu
had become no more than a memory of something that was hateful before,
and the priests had no longer any rites to perform -- indeed, there
were no priests, for their office had died out. These changes came no
doubt by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, acting through blind, unsuspecting
agents. These revolutions were greatly furthered and helped along by
those devout and devoted men who first brought here and translated into
our mother-tongue God's Holy Word: and we, whilst these lines are being
written, see the complete fulfilment of what the Bible enjoins in the
establishment here of Christ's Church complete mana o na kapu, a ua
nele na kahuna i ka hana in all her functions. The Church is established
here in Hawaii through the breathings of the Holy Spirit and by the
agency of the chiefs. Vancouver, long ago, was requested to send us
the True God; Iolani [Liholiho, the king who, as Kamehameha II died
in London in 1824] then your King, went to a distant and a powerful
country to hasten the advent of that which our eyes now see and the
spirit within us acknowledges, the very Church, here planted in Hawaii
-- but how long we had waited! It is true that the representatives of
various forms of worship had come here, and there had been many controversies,
one side generally denying what some other sect laid most stress on.
Now we have grounds to rejoice, and now we may hold fast to the hope
that the true Church of God has verily taken root here. In this Book
of Prayer we see all that she prescribes: we see what she rules and
enforces; what her offices, her creeds, her system, her support in life,
her promises in death; what things we ought to do and what to leave
undone; which things being constantly before our eyes and dutifully
followed, we may humbly hope to be indeed her children, and be strengthened
to fulfil all the commandments of our blessed Lord, the One Head of
the One Church, which now we gladly behold and gratefully acknowledge.
This our Church is an off-shoot of that branch of the One true Church,
established in Great Britain and called the Anglican Catholic Church,
which is itself a branch of the One Apostolic and Holy Catholic Church
founded for evermore by our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be all praise,
power, glory and dominion for ever and ever.

Amen.

HONOLULU,
June, 1863.

NOTE

by Meiric K. Dutton

The Rev. Dr. Thomas Nettleship Staley, having been consecrated at Lambeth
Chapel on December 15, 1861, as the first Bishop of Honolulu, arrived
at his new see on October 11, 1862, to establish the Anglican Church in
the Hawaiian Islands. In his first meeting with King Kamehameha IV, Bishop
Staley learned that the king was even then engaged in translating the
Book of Common Prayer into Hawaiian and "that the Hawaiian Liturgy,
to the end of the Morning and Evening Prayer, would be completed and ready
for use in a few days." This material appears to have been distributed
on November 9, 1862, when "The King's Morning Prayer was used for
the first time at a purely native service." What may be a unique
copy of this first completed portion of the Prayer Book is preserved in
the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society library. It is a sidesewn pamphlet
of 36 pages; and its first page, with the date "1862," is the
title page exactly as it appears in the bound copies of the first printing
of the Prayer Book issued in late August of 1863.

An extraordinary feature of this Prayer Book in Hawaiian was the addition
of a preface or explanation of the new teaching. The text of this preface
is here presented in Hawaiian and English, both being from original sources
attributed to the king himself. The Hawaiian text is from the original
1862-3 edition of the Prayer Book where it appears at the very end, occupying
pages 391 to 397. The English text is reproduced from Pamphlet No. 1357
issued, apparently in 1864, by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

An introductory note to Pamphlet No. 1357 says in part, "To this
Hawaiian Prayer Book, the king prefixed [sic] a Preface, also in Hawaiian,
to introduce and explain the Prayer Book to his people. This Preface he
himself translated into English that his English friends might see what
he had written; and it is this Preface which is contained in the following
pages. ¶ It may be necessary to assure the reader that the Preface is
entirely the king's own work. It was seen by no one until it was submitted
to the Bishop, already completed and in type; and he declined to make
or suggest any alterations whatever (notwithstanding some minor inaccuracies
which may perhaps be observed in it), thinking it better that so remarkable
a production should go forth as the unprompted and untouched work of .the
king."

Web
Author's note:

This
document was contained in a booklet presented to the 58th General
Convention of the Episcopal Church in 1955 by the Commercial Printing
Div. of Advertiser Publishing in Honolulu. An earlier printing of
this booklet appears as 50:5 in David Griffith's Bibliography
of the Book of Common Prayer.

The
author has no knowledge of the Hawaiian language, so any errors
in the Hawaiian text will be likely due to his imperfect proofreading.